HILLSBORO - Fortune Data Centers' Hillsboro facility seems like a scene lifted from a James Bond movie: a room filled with 1,900 black batteries hums almost inaudibly, doors with security checkpoints yield to other rooms with scores of large, complex cooling systems.

The scale of the 240,000-square-foot facility, previously home to the Etec Systems semiconductor plant, is immense.

After looking at locations in Texas, Arizona, Utah, Nevada, and throughout Oregon, Hillsboro was the "clear winner" according to CEO John Sheputis.

Fortune Data Centers

Project size: 240,000 square feet on 15 acres

Jobs: 20-40

Address: 21515 N.W. Evergreen Parkway, Hillsboro

Purpose: serves as a landlord for companies wanting to house data servers

Comparison: the Hillsboro facility has 20 megawatts of power capacity twice the amount of the company's San Jose location.

Improvements: Installed 'tens of millions' in new equipment and infrastructure, including many backup generator systems and a 146,000 gallon silo of water to assist cooling process.

Data centers are cropping up across the state, Sheputis said, because of its great climate and "welcoming tax posture to making investment." Another perk is the presence of high-speed data cables which cross the Pacific Ocean bound for Hillsboro. Sheputis said those cables, which he estimated cost in the billions of dollars, practically mandate companies like his "site near them."

"I think this area is destined to win more than it's share," Sheputis said of the data center market.

The 15-acre location is also in an enterprise zone, exempting the company from property taxes on its equipment for three to five years. Sheputis said since purchasing the building last year, the company has invested millions tens of millions of dollars of equipment that's been designed, purchased, installed, integrated and tested. The center will employ between 20 and 40 people.

High-profile companies like Facebook, Adobe, Amazon and Yahoo are building data centers in Oregon and Washington. Sheputis said his San Jose-based company is different. "We are a data center that serves other end users, we didn't build this for our own consumption."

Signs proclaim the center as the most sustainable in its industry. Fortune officially opened its doors in Hillsboro on Thursday. Its first two tenants signed leases to operate their server farms out of the facility, according to director of sales Jennie Karnes.

Sheputis said one of the first tenants, which he declined to name, is from out of state and a high-profile company.

Fortune retrofitted many of the cooling systems already in place from the former tenant. It did the same thing at its San Jose facility.

Sheputis described Hillsboro as a "destination market" for data farms. He responded to criticism of the industry as one that doesn't create jobs by pointing to his customers. "The tenants that we bring are bringing their staff, their ideas their commerce to this area."

His company, and customers too, spend millions on maintenance.

The data center industry is rapidly innovating, Sheputis said, and becoming more efficient. He said Hillsboro is a logical location for more data centers and investment. "I can't imagine why there wouldn't be, not only from us, but from others."